Thursday, September 22, 2011

Phideas, that’s Christos’ son, gave his Uncle Demetrios a call and wanted to meet him. It’s just sort of ironic, because he never seemed to want to before, when we were on good terms with his father, yet now … ?

So they spent this morning together at a café, and no, Phideas neither asked for any money nor had any medical problem. He wanted to discuss some ideas he has for his future. (You may recall that he went into the army last year, and I thought that was just what the lad needed to make a man of him. Well, that didn’t work out. The army sent him back home within a few weeks.)

I’m so delighted he’s thinking about his future, trying to formulate some plans.

Phideas wanted to discuss a religious matter, too, so Demetrios has bought him a good book on that issue. I assume this means they’ll meet again soon. I hope so.

In the evening, we went to Panagiota’s house, adjacent to the Kastro (Castle). This time, only she and Olympia were there (Nick having already returned to Richmond), and Panagiota’s daughter Ioanna, and Ioanna’s husband, Aleko, the parents of the bride. So, six of us. We had a better chance, this time, to get to know Olympia’s family. They are all wonderful people whom we hope to get to know better and better.

Again we enjoyed the marvelous view from their terrace, the lights of the city clustered around the bay. Thessaloniki really is a beautiful city, especially at night.

We gave Ioanna our belated wedding gift for her daughter and son-in-law, and received three books Panagiota wanted Demetrios to have.

And we ended the evening early (10:00) because Olympia has to get up early to catch her flight home. So it was all perfect.

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Good news; Demetrios and Christos met again today, together with Phideas, and they all had a good time together at Maxim’s, that café I keep alluding to.

Later, Ioannis the theologian came, with his wife Mena, and I joined them all.

Finally, after all these years, I got to know Mena some, and what a gift! Usually she is silent, says as little as possible, but this time, she talked and talked and so did I, managing the Greek reasonably well because we weren’t on topics that require any fancy vocabulary. She’s a wonderful person and we developed a beautiful bond. Thank you, God.